


Trying to Get Back

by OnceAndFloral



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Almost Drowning, I'll update tags as I go, M/M, but nobody drowns so down worry, givejeremygushers2k17, not all the characters are in chapter one, seriously that's gonna happen multiple times, water spirit au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-11-29 17:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11445609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceAndFloral/pseuds/OnceAndFloral
Summary: Jakereallywants to find that guy who saved him from drowning.





	1. starlit waters

“Jesus, there’s nothing to _do_.” Jake groaned as he dropped down onto a swing. “I thought parks were supposed to be fun.”

“Parks are fun, dude.” Rich said. “They’re normally more fun when it’s not fucking midnight though.”

“Fair enough.” Jake swung his legs back and forth. Summer nights tended to be slow and eventless, so here they were in the park looking for something to do. Apparently they would have been better off just staying indoors. “What’s the point of going out here if we can’t swim?”

“I mean… We _can_.”

The two looked at each other for a few brief moments. “Are you, Richard Goranski, suggesting we break into the pool at night?”

“Yep.”

“And there’s been reports of weird shit happening during its closing hours?”

“You betcha.”

“Let’s fucking do it.”

* * *

Jake hissed as Rich splashed water at him. “Dude, how childish can you get?

“Pretty fucking childish.” He stuck his tongue out. “I thought you knew me.”

“I thought I did too.” Jake placed a hand to his chest. “My best friend betrays me like this. We can’t keep going on like this Rich.”

He flopped over onto Rich, earning a shout of surprise and indignation. “You’re crushing me, asshole!” 

Rich shoved him off and into the water. The few moments of odd silence almost mesmerized Jake into forgetting to swim back up. But then he was back above the surface and throwing Rich underwater.

They continued wrestling to see who could soak the other the most until Rich jumped up on Jake’s back and almost drowned him from holding his head underwater. “Okay, okay!” Jake gasped, throwing Rich across the pool. “Holy shit, you’re killing me here.”

“Sorry, but that’s what you get for forsaking the unspoken laws of friendship.” Rich said as Jake hauled himself out of the pool.

He sighed, walking around to the end of the pool where they put down all of their stuff. “Hey, where’s my shirt?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Rich asked overly innocently.

“Oh my god, where’s my shirt?” 

Rich merely cackled. Jake started storming back to the edge of the pool. “I swear to god, if you did _anything_ to-”

The world spun around him as Jake’s foot slipped on the wet ground. He gasped as he hit his head right on the pool edge and fell straight into the deep end.

He manages to register he’s sinking, and that he’s probably breathing in water, but he couldn’t move. Stars were shooting around just under Jake’s eyes, likely from hitting his head on concrete. He heard Rich shouting, but it’s almost like he’s world away. Jake wasn’t sure if it was from the head injury or the being underwater.

Suddenly there were cold hands on his face. Jake blinked away the pinpricks of light, coming face to face with a boy with almost translucent skin merely inches away. For a few moments they just stared at each other, Jake too shocked and injured to move and the other… completely unreadable. He looks from Jake to the pale light filtering from above. Jake’s cheeks were starting to grow numb from the cold, cold hands.

The hands were suddenly pulling him up through the water. As soon as Jake broke the surface of the water he gasped for air and the cold fingers are replaced with with Rich’s warm ones as the shorter male drags him out of the water.

“Oh god, Jake are you okay?”

He couldn’t do anything to respond except hack up the liquid filling his lungs.

“Holy shit, how much of that did you inhale?”

“Did you see that?” Jake gasped as soon as he had the ability to speak.

“See what?”

“The guy! The one who just saved me.”

“Maybe you hit your head a little too hard…”

“I’m not making this up!”

Rich looked out at the almost pitch black waters. “There’s no one else here.”

“You _have_ to believe me.”

“If I encourage your weird fever dream will you calm down?” Rich asked. Jake bit down on his lip. “Whatever. Let’s just climb back over the fence once you’re feeling up to it, I think we’ve had enough illegal pool swimming for one night.”

Jake stared into the rippling water as Rich tossed him his lost shirt. He was right, there didn’t seem to be anyone else there.

So who was that?

* * *

A week later Jake still couldn’t stop thinking about that night at the pool. How did that guy disappear so quickly? Who was he? Maybe Jake should even be asking _what_ was he.

...No that was dumb.

He dropped his stuff in the seat across from Rich. He looked at Jake in a little bit of annoyance, but mostly looked like he didn’t care. Rich had a special way of somehow pulling off that look.

“Dude, it’s cafe time. You gotta let me eat my scone.” Ah yes. Rich’s traditional morning visit to the local cafe. 

“We have to go back.”

Rich groaned. “Listen, I get it. Normally I’m all up for stupid shit, but last time you kind of almost _died_.”

“Come on, we have to investigate!” Jake insisted.

“You’re not still on that “some dude saved me but we didn’t see him” shit, are you?”

“I…”

“You’re still on that shit.” Rich sighed, swirling around the coffee in his cup. “You really want to break into the local pool to look for some mystery guy that was probably just a weird hallucination?”

“Hallucinations don’t pull you out of water, Rich.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“If you don’t come with me, I’m going alone.”

“Fine, go alone. Do I get all your shit if you die?”

“Who else would I give it to?”

“Sweet. I’ll pack you some snacks though.”

Jake sighed and rolled his eyes. “Thanks, I’ll be sure to use them if I almost die again.”

“Great. I have gushers and packets of cookies, that good with you?”

“Sure.” There wasn’t a conceivable way this could possibly go wrong. Okay, maybe there was.

Jake was kind of worrying about what he was getting himself into.


	2. what makes the desert beautiful

Admittedly, Jake probably looked a little dumb.

He was sitting at the poolside on a towel in the middle of the night, shining a flashlight into the water with a bag full of various snack foods that Rich had packed next to him. The flashlight didn’t do much to penetrate the dark waters, especially in the deep end, but what else was he supposed to do? What do you even do to lure someone out? He supposed repeat the way they first met, but Jake was unsurprisingly not in the mood to drown himself. 

Jake groaned, pulling out a packet of Gushers from the bag and collapsing on his back. Jesus, he was ridiculous, looking for strangers in a pool at night. Rich was right, he probably just hallucinated the whole thing.

At least he had snacks.

“Way to fucking go, Jake.” He mumbled as he opened the packet and popped a few of the gummies in his mouth. “Make your best friend think you’re insane.”

“What’re those?”

Jake shot up. Where did that come from? He scanned his surroundings, looking for some sign of a person. His eyes eventually settled on the pool. Hovering in the water just a couple yards from the edge was a head of soaking curls and eyes peeking just above the surface. “Uh…”

“What is it?”

The eyes were staring at the bright yellow packet in Jake’s hands. “They’re… food.”

The entire pool seemed to ripple in agitation. “I guessed that. Why else would you be eating it?”

“Well then why did you ask me what it is?”

“Because I’ve never seen that _kind_ of food before!”

“You’ve…. You’ve never seen Gushers before?”

They made an angry noise. “Obviously not!”

“Whoa, okay, I’m sorry, you’re obviously touchy about it.” Jake wasn’t sure what to do. From this distance he couldn’t tell if it was the guy from the other night. Although, not many people made a habit of visiting pools at night multiple times. “Do you want some?”

They don’t respond for a little while. Suddenly they’re gone, beneath the water without a trace they had ever been there. Okay, maybe he was still hallucinating. Jake cursed as they suddenly resurfaced in the water in front of him. They swam over a bit too fast for that to be normal.

And Jake can now tell it is in fact the guy he’s looking for.

“Is that a yes?” Jake asked.

“Sure.”

Jake passed him and extra packet. He simply stared at it for a moment. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“You open it?”

“....What?”

He sighed, taking back the Gushers and opening it before giving it back. “There you go. You really have _never_ opened a snack packet before?”

“No.” The stranger still looked at it like it was some kind of puzzle. “I don’t…”

“Holy shit, how clueless can you get?”

Jake is rewarded for that comment with a splash of pool water to the face. “How fucking rude can _you_ get?” Despite his harsh tone he looks… sad. Anxious. Fuck, Jake didn’t mean to make him upset.

“Um. I haven’t introduced myself so… I’m Jake?”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes.”

A few moments of silence. “I’m Jeremy.” 

“Well, it’s nice to see you again, Jeremy.”

His head snapped up from the Gushers. “You mean you were conscious?”

“Yes…?”

Jeremy made a panicked sound and disappeared underwater. Jake scrambled to his feet. “Whoa! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you off!” There wasn’t a response. “Jeremy, you can’t just drown yourself to escape this.” Still no reply. Oh shit. “Jeremy?! Are you okay?!”

Nothing but silence. Jake cursed once again under his breath and jumped into the water. Bad idea.

He was immediately shocked by how cold and _dark_ it was. Was the water this icy last time? Jake instinctively sucked in a breath, but instead of oxygen his lungs were met with freezing water. Whoops. Looks like Rich was going to get his stuff after all.

Something even colder than the water temperature looped under his arms. Jake barely noticed being dragged to the surface. 

“What the fuck do you think you were doing?” Jeremy shouted through the haze. “You could have hurt yourself!”

“Y-y-y-you’re the one who-who was basically _trying_ to drown him-himself!” Jake’s teeth were chattering like mad, but Jeremy didn’t seem to be affected. “And wh-why are you so damn c-c-c-cold?!”

“I _can’t_ drown, you god damn idiot!” Jeremy hauled Jake to the edge of the pool with more strength than Jake would have expected from him.

“What’s that sup-supposed to mean?”

Somehow Jeremy managed to throw him up onto dry land. “Does it have any other interpretive meaning I’m missing here?”

Jake coughed up some of the water in his lungs, spitting it onto the concrete. “I don’t know!”

“I can’t leave the water without dying, I can’t very well _drown_ in it!”

Wait. Jake’s brain screeches to a halt as he processed this. “I’m…”

“Did you think… I was human?”

That statement threw his mental processes into overdrive. “Was I supposed to assume you weren’t?”

Jeremy hauled himself out of the pool to sit on the edge, feet still dangling in the water. “I thought it was obvious.” Now that he mentioned it, Jake noticed his skin was a little _too_ translucent. And Jeremy was almost…. Shimmering. The more Jake looked him up and down, the less human he appeared. His eyes were a shade too green, lips a touch too blue, movements just a bit too fluid.

“Oh my god.”

“I-I should go.” Jeremy started to slip back into the water when Jake grabbed his wrist. His skin still feels like ice.

“No, wait, I just need a bit of time to… process this.”

Jeremy looked like a deer in headlights. Specifically, too terrified that one move will be the wrong one to move. “I g-get that.” 

He took a deep breath. “You aren’t human.”

“Yes.”

“That’s why you didn’t know what fucking Gushers were?”

“Yes. Speaking of that, can I have another, I kind of dropped mind.”

“No, we’re not done talking about this.”

Jeremy shifted around uncomfortably, sighing. “Fine.”

“What even _are_ you.”

The pale boy huffed, tilting his head and making an absolutely inhuman noise. Jake blinked. “....What was that?”

“That’s what we call ourselves.” Jeremy said.

“Do you have something humans can pronounce? Preferably something I can Google?”

“I guess.... Water spirit sounds good.” 

“Why is there a water spirit in the local pool?” Jake asked.

Jeremy’s shoulders sagged and his eyes glazed over with a faraway look. “I don’t really want to talk about it. It just…. Involves things I’m supposed to be able to do but. Can’t.”

“Okay… That’s not cryptic or anything but I won’t press you on it.” Jake frowned. “So you’re stuck here?” Jeremy nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Jeremy merely shrugged, kicking his legs in the water.

“Why did you save me? Twice.”

“Well I didn’t want a _dead_ thing in the place I live in. And…”Jeremy chewed on his lip. "I do have a conscience, you know. Just because I'm not human or whatever doesn't mean I don't have critical thinking skills." 

“Huh.” Jake shifted around so he was sitting next to the water spirit. He looked into the water, blinking in surprise. There was nothing more than a faint outline where Jeremy’s feet should be. “Whoa.”

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” He mumbled. 

“So you know what cameras are, but you don’t know about Gushers?” Jake deadpanned.

“Humans bring cameras to the pool a lot. I can piece things together eventually.” Jeremy huffed. “My turn to ask a question. Why did you come back?”

“I was curious.”

“Oh.”

“Were you expecting something else?”

“Maybe.” Jake waited for Jeremy to say something else, but it seemed that was all he was going to get out of him. “I should probably go. I’ve probably stay out later than I already should have.”

Jeremy looked around, rolling back his shoulders. “Gushers?”

“Oh, right.” Jake grabbed one of the snack packets from the bag and gave it to Jeremy. An awkward silence settled over them as Jeremy struggled to tear it open. He cleared his throat, rising to his feet. “Uh. Nice meeting a water spirit.”

“You won’t…”Jeremy’s voice cracked, one hand picking at the hem of the faded and tattered t-shirt he wore. “You won’t tell anyone about me, right?”

“Huh? Oh, no, I won’t. I don’t really have anything to gain from it anyways.”

“Can you, maybe, come back?” Jeremy flinched. “I’m sorry, that sounds weird, but I haven’t, like, talked to anyone in a really long time? You know what, just-just forget I said anything.” He started getting back into the water, clutching at the snack package.

“Hey, no, it’s fine, I can probably come back.”

“Really?”

Jake swallowed. Was this really a good idea? Well, he didn’t really have enough information to make decent judgement on the situation but…. “Sure. What could go wrong?”

Jeremy’s face lit up. “You-You can come back any time! I can’t really leave so I’m basically always here.”

Oh. Jake smiled at him. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, I love them. Hope you enjoyed that shit. 
> 
> Catch me on tumblr as latenightbutterfiies ! Feel free to ask questions about this or any of my other aus.


	3. Untamed

It was absolutely stupid that Jake was alone on a Friday night. Rich was hanging out with his boyfriend, which, fair enough, but it left Jake with nothing to do. So, there he was, climbing over the pool fence with a bag full of Gushers, looking for a water spirit that he might have hallucinated in the first place.

“Jeremy?” He called. “If you actually exist and it wasn’t just me with a concussion I brought you Gushers.”

There was a splashing sound and Jake caught sight of Jeremy’s faded t-shirt and short. He rested his arms up on the pool edge, staring at Jake unblinkingly. “Give.”

“Way to use your manners.” Jake tore open a packet and passed it to Jeremy, who immediately threw back most of the gummies. “How did you get food before?”

“I don’t actually need to eat.” Jeremy said through a mouthful of food. “It just tastes good and it makes me feel better.”

“Feel better how?”

“Um, in smaller spaces water spirits can feel kind of ill if we stay there for too long. Y’know, stagnant ponds, large puddles…. Swimming pools.”

“Oh.” A sour kind of feeling settled in Jake’s stomach. Way to go, almost instantly bring up a touchy subject. “Well, I can bring you other kinds of food if you want.”

Jeremy smiled weakly. “Actually this stuff is just fine. It’s probably easier to transport anyways.”

Jake sat down next to Jeremy, tossing away his shoes and letting his feet dip into the pool. “So how long have you been here?”

“What?”

“In the pool.”

“I… I don’t know.”

He blinked. “That’s okay. How old are you in general?”

“What do you mean?” Jeremy frowned.

“Like, how long have you been alive?”

“Why would I record how many days I’ve been alive? That seems tedious and pointless.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “No, how many _years_ have you been alive?”

“Years?”

“The Earth orbiting the sun one time? Three hundred and sixty five days?”

“How would I know how many years old I am if I don’t know how many days old I am?”

He opened his mouth to say something. Oh shit. “I didn’t think of that. I guess you wouldn’t record time the same way humans do.”

“Surprisingly the universe doesn't revolve around your species.” Jeremy held out a hand, making a little “gimme” motion. Sensing the hint, Jake dropped another packet of Gushers in his open palm. 

“Need help opening it?” He asked. Jeremy didn't respond. He was busy trying to tear apart the bright yellow packaging.

“Why is it so slippery?” Jeremy whined.

“It's not slippery, your hands are just wet.”

“But my hands can't dry off. I'm basically _made_ of water, Jake.”

“Fair enough.” Jake smiled. He plucked the snack out of Jeremy’s hands and ripped it open for him. “What do you do all day?”

“Avoid people mostly.” Jeremy hummed. “I hang out all day in that bottom....” He squinted, tilting his head as he sized up the pool. “Right corner of the deep end all day. No one ever really swims down that deep.”

“Don’t the life guards see you? I feel like they’d panic if someone stayed down there for more than five minutes.” Jake said as he grabbed his own pack of Gushers from the bag. 

“I can turn into water. Or, well, _more_ into water.” He hauled himself up, sitting close enough to Jake that he could feel the cold radiating from the water spirit’s skin. 

A shudder ran up Jake’s spine. He tried to ignore it. “Doesn’t that get… I don’t know, boring?”

Jeremy’s eyes bored into him, sending odd sensations skittering up and down his arms. Jake shifted around uncomfortably. “Uh, Jeremy, are you gonna say any-”

He screamed as a cold hand gathered a fistful of his shirt collar and dragged him into the drink. There were only a few moments of being underwater before Jake was back up, sputtering for air. “You _asshole_!”

Jeremy was cackling, trying to muffle his laughter with his hand. “You should have seen your face!”

“Why the fuck did you do that?!”

“Well it does get boring around here! Maybe I wanted to have some fun for once!” He grinned.

Honestly, the water was a whole lot warmer than Jake expected, especially when compared to the last time he’d been in. Which was when he had jumped in to try and save Jeremy when Jake thought he was drowning. That time the water had been ice cold, bone-chilling. Now it was almost enjoyable.

“I can’t believe you fell for that.”

“This is my favorite jacket!” Jake hissed. “It’s gonna take forever to dry off too!”

Jeremy stopped laughing, sinking down until his shoulders were immersed in dark, swirling liquid. Wait, what?

Jake struggled to keep his footing as the water started whirling around them. The warm temperature was dropping at a rather alarming rate. “I-I’m sorry, I should have thought about that. I, uh, I get-get it if you want to leave.”

“No, no, fuck, it’s okay.” Jake grabbed onto the pool edge to keep steady. “I was just surprised.”

Jeremy raked his fingers through his hair, eyes wide and staring into the water. “I can-I can be alone again. I was a-alone before, this is…” He choked on the words in his throat. The current around them grew stronger. What the fuck was going on?

He reached out and wrapped his fingers around Jeremy’s wrist. “I’m not leaving, just calm down! If it’s you doing this shit, you’re gonna drown me.”

The water spirit stiffened. He felt like ice. Like if Jake tightened his grip too much he’d crack. “I…”

“It’s okay, Jeremy, I’m not mad.”

The water stilled. “‘m sorry.” Jeremy whispered hoarsely.

“Really, it’s fine. Are you…” Jake hesitated to say anything else. “Are you okay? You got kind of, like, upset at being alone.”

The water spirit slowly stood up straight. “I’m always alone.” He mumbled. “I’m stuck here and I can’t… can’t talk to anyone because then they’ll just take me and put me in some different fish tank all by myself where they’ll just-just _use_ me.”

A long silence settled over them. What was he supposed to say to that?

“You really want to get out of here, huh?” Wow, way to be fucking obvious, Dillinger. Despite how insensitive Jake's comment seemed to be, Jeremy just nodded, gently shaking away his hand.

“It's bad enough to be unable to go on land. Now the only view I get in concrete and sky.” He looked up. “Come back tomorrow night?”

Jake nodded. “Sure.” Jesus, now this was just really heavy. “Since I'm already wet…. Race you to the other side of the pool?”

He was met with a grin. “You're on.”

* * *

Jake watched as the light filtering in through the window crept across the bedroom floor. He'd gotten home from the pool just before sunrise. Unfortunately, he'd been unable to make up for any of his lost sleep, even though it was probably approaching the afternoon.

God, it must suck to be stuck in a local pool. Jake could hardly stand to have to be confined to one place for more than a few hours, let alone days.

Maybe months.

What was he supposed to do about it though? It's not like he knew very much about anything… supernatural. But he did know a guy who could get him someone who did.

Jake grabbed his phone, opening up Rich’s contact

**JD:** i need a favor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I'm really excited for the next chapter and I hope you guys are too. Because a very special character is going to be introduced, and I love them
> 
> Catch me on Tumblr as latenightbutterfiies


	4. Ephemeral

**Best Bi:** yea man, ill see i what i can do  
 **Best Bi:** what is this favor

**JD:** your boyfriend is really into cryptids n shit right?

**Best Bi:** yea it’s fuckin awesome when he starts ranting about em he gets really passionate

**JD:** okay, tone down the gay there  
 **JD:** i… may or may not need his help?

**Best Bi:** sure lemme just give him my phone

**JD:** thanks

**Best Bi:** hey! michael talkin  
 **Best Bi:** what can i do ya for?

**JD:** “what can i do you for”?

**Best Bi:** it’s the way i talk shhh

**JD:** okay okay, moving on  
 **JD:** i have a special friend and he really needs my help

**Best Bi:** ooooooooooooo “special friend”  
 **Best Bi:** you really should as rich for romantic advice, not me

**JD:** not special like that  
 **JD:** special as in  
 **JD:** this is gonna sound crazy but  
 **JD** special as in he isn’t human

**JD:** dude are you going to reply?

**Best Bi:** sorry i was just screaming at rich i’m very excited right now  
 **Best Bi:** is this this the thing that saved you in the pool?? rich said he thought you hallucinated the whole thing but i was kinda skeptical of that bc people don't get pulled up by hallucinations

**JD:** that's what I said  
 **JD:** also he isn’t “the thing” his name is jeremy

**Best Bi:** holy shit  
 **Best Bi:** you have to introduce me

**JD:** i mean  
 **JD:** he’s really nervous  
 **JD:** and you’d have to go at night because he doesn’t like coming out with the large crowds that are normally at the pool

**Best Bi:** nononono that’s totally fine!  
 **Best Bi:** i’ll get your number from rich  
 **Best Bi:** also I’m assuming you don’t care if rich sees this??

**JD:** bring him for all i care it’ll prove i’m not fuckin crazy

**Best Bi:** okay. tonight sound good?

**JD:** sure. sounds great

 

Okay. This was going to be fine. All Jake had to do was make sure Jeremy didn’t freak out when he brought Michael as possibly Rich. No big deal. Probably. Hopefully.

Holy shit there was a million ways this could go wrong.

* * *

Michael and Jake had never been in the same room for all that long together. There were quick exchanges through connections with Rich, but they’d never had a real conversation before.

The two boyfriends were waiting for Jake in the parking lot, bags slung over their shoulders. Michael’s iconic hoodie was traded for beachwear, namely a tank top and swim trunks. Luckily for him, it was a fairly warm night. Rich as not as prepared, given he was just in his normal clothes.

“Jake, I swear to god, if you just dragged us out here and there’s no fuckin’ mermaid I’m going to punch you.” Rich said.

“Come on, give the guy some faith!” Michael shouldered his bag. “This is so fucking cool if he’s not making this up! Let me have some hope.” 

“Wow, thanks for the faith you guys. ” Jake mumbled. “ Can you calm down? I haven’t gotten any sleep in over twenty four hours and this one guy was chatting me up way too much in the store. Anyways, I should probably go in first and tell Jeremy you’re coming so he doesn’t, like, freak out or something.”

“I’m counting on you, dude, I could have been fucking my boyfriend.”

Michael rolled his eyes at Rich’s comment. “Don’t even pretend that this isn’t movie and cuddles night. _And_ don’t pretend like it ever escalates. Like hell I’m letting you interrupt Shrek.”

“Oh my god, that movie fucking sucks.”

“That’s bullshit, and here’s a fifty point long list why.”

Jake left them to argue about the quality of Shrek, jogging up the short walkway to the pool. Scaling the fence was easy enough, considering how much he’d been doing it recently. He dropped down from the top, sneakers hitting the concrete with a dull _thud_.

“Hey, Jeremy, you here?” He called softly.

Ripples spread across the water’s surface as a dark shadow slid closer underwater. Jeremy quickly appeared, a large grin on his face. “Welcome back!”

Jake laughed. “Alright, nerd, I brought you more Gushers.” Jeremy made a squeaking sound and reached his hands out in a grabby motion. He took out the yellow packet.

“You want me to open this or-” He was cut off by Jeremy snatching the Gushers away and ripping open the package with his teeth. “Dude.”

“What? I was getting upset with it being difficult.” Jeremy dug into the bag. “Ooh, this one is full of the red kind.”

“Strawberry?”

“If that’s what they’re called.” 

Jake opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. Fuck, this was harder than he was expecting to be. Jeremy gave him an odd look as he chewed. “Are you okay?”

“Yea, yea, I’m okay it’s just…” Jake sighed. “You want to get out of here, right?” Slow nodding. “Well, I have some friends here that might be able to help you…” Jeremy made panicked sounds, water beginning to slosh dangerously around him “Whoa, whoa, whoa! It’s okay! It’s like two people, and I’ve known them for a really long time. They aren’t going to hurt you. But I really can’t do this alone.”

Jeremy didn’t say anything for a long time. He just ate the gummies, staring introspectively at Jake’s feet. “You’re… you’re really sure about it?”

“I’m positive.” 

“Okay. Okay, if you say so.”

Jake smiled as comfortingly as he could. “I’m gonna go get them, okay? I’ll be right back.”

When he climbed back over the fence and got back to Rich and Michael, the two were still arguing over Shrek.

“Okay, you _cannot_ say the musical wasn’t good.” Michael said.

“The musical was shit.” Rich deadpanned.

Michael gasped dramatically. “How dare you. I should break up with you.”

“But you won’t.”

“Yea, you’re right.”

“If you guys are done, Jeremy’s ready to talk to you.” Jake said. Michael bounced on his feet, grinning ear to ear.

“Hell yea! Let’s do this!”

The three made their way back to the fence, occasionally shoving each other playfully as they nearly stepped on feet in the darkness. Michael stared up at the metal links like they were a mountain.

“Babe, can you carry me?” He asked, nudging Rich with his elbow.

“What? No. I'm not _that_ strong, and this is your project.”

“I'm insulted you think you don't believe you have the ability to carry me.” Michael huffed as he grabbed onto the fence and started hauling himself up. Jake and Rich shared a short look before following him up.

They got over the obstruction with minor inconvenience, just Michael getting stuck at the top of the fence for a while. They eventually got him down, albeit it involved him landing on top of Rich, but they were gonna take what they could get. 

“Alright dude.” Rich sighed. “Summon your mermaid or whatever.”

“He’s not a mermaid.” Jake scanned the pool, looking for signs of the water spirit. “Jeremy, you can come out. I’ll punch Rich if he tries anything.”

Rich shouted in indignation as the water began swirling around. Jeremy emerged from the center of it, staring at Rich and Michael apprehensively. Michael himself was absolutely ecstatic. 

“Oh my god, this is amazing!” He exclaimed, bouncing up and down on his feet. “The water’s moving in a mild whirlpool-like pattern and it’s a fucking swimming pool! It shouldn’t even have a current!”

“Holy fucking shit.” Rich whispered.

“Guys, I think you’re scaring him.” Jake eyed the increasing speed of the water warily. “Just… Jeremy, come over here.”

The water spirit slowly drifted closer, not taking his eyes off of Michael and Rich. “Are you sure about this…?”

“Yea, see? Michael’s nice and Rich is a total pushover.”

“I resent that!” Rich said. Jake shot him a warning look.

Jeremy shifted around in the water. “What’s he wearing?” He pointed at Michael, specifically his glasses. 

Michael sent Jake a questioning expression, sliding from foot to foot. He nodded slowly. Jeremy didn’t seem comfortable per se, but in Jake’s experience answering his questions made him more comfortable.

“They’re my glasses.” Michael crouched down at the pool edge.

“Why are you wearing them?”

“They help me see.”

“Can you… not see?”

“No, if I was blind then glasses wouldn’t help.”

Jeremy squinted in confusion, fiddling with his fingers. “I don’t get it. Why do you need them if you can see?”

“Well I can’t see very well.” Michael was a literal god send. Jake sent a silent thank you to whatever gods existed for him answering Jeremy’s questions so easily.

“Oh.” Jeremy blinked. “Can I touch them…?”

“Sure.” Michael sat down, leaning forward so he was closer. Jeremy reached up tentatively, small flinches sending his arm back a few inches every couple seconds. “Really, it’s fine, I’m not going to bite.

Jeremy brushed his fingers against the frames of the glasses, lips moving silently. He turned to Jake. “You have cool friends.”

Michael laughed. “Well, thanks dude. Do you mind if I ask you some questions now?”

It took a while for Jeremy to respond. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. Special character was Michael. I love him. Anyways, I'm just posting this really quick before I head off to theatre camp, so... sorry if it's a bit of a weird cut off
> 
> Catch me on tumblr as latenightbutterfiies

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY WE'RE GONNA GET TO THE GOOD SHIT NEXT CHAPTER. But this is fun to write. Sorry if I didn't write it very well though ahhh.
> 
> Catch me on tumblr as latenightbutterfiies ! feel free to ask me questions about this or any of my other aus!
> 
> Kudos are always appreciated and comments essentially make my week.


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